Alex Toker at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in January joined the ranks of the associate editors at The Journal of Biological Chemistry. His laboratory focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cancer progression. He spoke with ASBMB Today’s science writer Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay.

Crowdfunding, which solicits funds from the public for projects, is not new. It was even used in 1885 to raise money to build the pedestal that the Statue of Liberty stands on today. More recently, it has been used primarily in the arts — to fund musical work, smartphone apps or even movies. It is now taking off in the sciences.